A quiet man's blog.

Feb 05, 2010

BBC - A History of the World in 100 Objects - No.10 Jomon Pot #history #podcast #BBC

Jomon pots are the oldest pots in the world. Pottery was invented by people living in Japan, China and Korea during the last Ice Age about 14,000 years ago. Pots allowed people to boil foods such as nuts and shellfish to make them edible. This complete pot was found thousands of years after it was made and put to a new use. During the 1800s the inside was lined with gold foil and lacquered for use in Japanese tea ceremonies.

How did hunter gatherers make pots?

It was once thought that the first pots were invented by farmers. The nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers meant that they were unable to carry pots. The Jomon were hunter-gatherers however, and were able to develop pottery because of Japan's unique environment. They lived in a particularly food rich area - their diet contained over 65 different mammal species. This allowed the Jomon to settle in one place for several years and encouraged the development of pottery for cooking food.